My City December 2022

for her specialist degree, and Eastern Michigan University for her doctor ate. Next, she took a teaching job at Ferris State University before accept ing a leadership position at The Valley School in Flint. When the opportu nity came to build and run MMC, Wagonlander answered the call. “In the ‘70s and ‘80s, state and local educators were becoming con cerned about the huge dropout rates of high school students and college freshman,” explains Wagonlander. “The Mott Foundation, Genesee In termediate School District (GISD) and Michigan Department of Education were looking for a local approach to addresss the dropout rate.”The middle college concept was their direction. It began with the work of psychologist Janet Lieb erman and the establishment of the first middle college at LaGuardia College in New York in 1973. The education model targeted potential “at-risk” students who were strug gling in traditional high schools. It was thought that the change of loca

support could make a difference. “The success was phenomenal,” adds Wagonlander. Still, just copying the LaGuardia model wouldn’t work for the local plan. Mott Middle Col lege would need to serve students from more than one district – it had to work with all Genesee County school districts. Wagonlander got busy contacting all of the districts and met with local leadership. “I asked them to send students who teachers could identify as ‘high-risk,’ maybe ten or 12 per school, and they responded.” In 1991, with thanks to a gen erous start-up grant from the Mott Foundation, Michigan became the seventh state in the nation to offer the new education model and MMC became the country’s first multi-dis trict middle college. Since its initial support, the Mott Foundation has provided more than $2.6 million to develop the school’s instructional model and innovative curriculum. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of the Mott Foundation,

GISD and Michigan Department of Education. They have been amaz ing,” Wagonlander states. Soon after its establishment, MMC was chosen as one of five national models that provided a blueprint of middle and early college success. As early as 1996, MMC and Wagonlander be gan coaching other middle colleges across the country. The Middle College model is based on four basic principles: 1. College-focused academic program: school curricula provide a bridge to postsec ondary studies that incor porate both high school and college coursework, social/emotional support throughout their high school years, 3. High school/college collab oration: High schools and colleges take joint respon sibility for students’ success and establish structures that permit high school students to take college courses; and 4. Culture of continuous improvement: High schools and colleges engage in evidence-based discussions to continuously improve the student experience. MMC strives to adapt all directions and decisions around these principles and the students have been reaping the rewards. 2. Student academic and

tion (a college campus) and a new educational environment characterized by adult norms of commitment to studies, responsibility, more mature behavior, and new avenues of

DR. CHERY AND HER HUSBAND, ARTIST AND TEACHER CHARLES “FRED” WAGONLANDER

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